Questions about Invisible Fencing

I posted an introduction last week about our new lab puppy Kane. He'll be ready to come home with us in just over 2 weeks. Anyway, right now we have a wood fence with wire for our 6 yr old mastiff (who can't jump and wouldn't waste his energy to do it anyway. Our house is for sale now and when it sells we are moving out even further in the boondocks. There we plan to use invisible fencing, but I'm wondering if the store bought systems are as good as the professional companies. I have no experience with it and I'd appreciate anybody's advice that has dealt with either. Thanks!!!

My parents have an IF for their beagle and they bought theirs from a store. Their neighors down the road had one professionally installed and they've had a lot of problems with it. Part of it has to do with the dog though. If you have a very bold and excitable dog then the IF system doesn't work very well b/c the dog doesn't mind taking the shock. Each dog is different. My parent's beagle is not a bold dog, so the IF works great with her. But their neighbor also has a beagle and he doesn't mind running through the fence if he's chasing something. A lot depends on your dog's personality.

Honestly, I would NOT use any IF system, they are cruel, inhuman, painful collars

I could never use one and never recommend one to a person.

I'm not a fan myself. To me, shocking a dog is a negative thing to do, and worst of all, the dog can't get out but it doesn't stop another dog or less domestic animal from getting in without an escape route for my dog. I don't know, I know some people use them but the whole idea makes me uncomfortable.

I wouldn't use one but because my dogs are escape artists I will probably use an electric wire around the fence to deter them. It's a shock at first but they learn quickly and dont' have to have an electric device around their necks. My dogs go over, under and through fences so I would just prefer it if they avoided them altogether. Guess that doesn't really help.

Having seen first hand the horrors of EF's, I will not ever be convinced that they are safe enough to consider. I was at a case not that long ago where 2 pups were severly burned as they layed on the shock line terrified while their mother was killed a partially eaten by coyotes. There are too many other options available. EF's are a risky and potentially dangerous alternative.

OMG Doc I am almost in tears now

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with some of you. Though an IF isn't an ideal situation, some people are not allowed to have fences. IFs are another option. Like I said earlier, they are not perfect for everyone. My parent's dog, Greta, has probably been shocked 2 times in the 3 years that they have had the fence. I've accidently stepped on her foot a lot more times than she has been shocked. Before my dad even put the collar on her he shocked himself with it first. He said it was uncomfortable, but didn't really hurt that bad. The collar is only on her when she is out in the yard, otherwise it is taken off and put away. The collar gives off a noise when the dog gets within so many feet of the boundary to warn the dog before it gets shocked. My parents could probably shut off the shock and she would stay in the yard just hearing the noise. Again, I'm not saying an IF would work the same for every dog, but for my parent's it has worked just fine and Greta is a very happy, healthy, spoiled dog. But if given the choice, I personally would prefer a regular fence to an IF.

Edit to add: Almost all of the horror stories of invisible fences (or all fences for that matter) could be avoided if people supervised their dogs instead of throwing them out in the yard and leaving them to their own devices for hours on end. JMO

I don't like them. Not just because they're a shock collar, but because I feel it's unsafe to leave a dog outside unattended without the protection of a fence. Predators, other people, other dogs etc need to be kept out of your yard, too.

I have high-drive dogs with a high pain tolerance. If an electric fence were to work, it would need to literally knock them down in order to stop them once they locked onto something.

If he must be outside unattended, I think a fence or a large kennel run is a must.

As for not everyone being allowed to have fences, this is true. In that case, why not just go outside WITH your dog and train a reliable recall?

This is exactly the problem Grace, you hit the nail right on the head. I would never use an IF for any dog but they often have the highest fail/injury rate with the larger or more pain tolerant dogs. And the fact that they keep a dog confined but allow preditors of any kind in....just way too many variables that make these unacceptable.

I have had an IF for about 7 yrs now and am very pleased with it. I live in the last house on a long dead end street that only has 5 houses with no neighbors on 3 sides, no pedestrian traffic and no cars except the neighbors. In the 25+ yrs I've lived here I think I have seen maybe 5 stray dogs. For us it works great. My dogs are never out in the yard if I am not home and I do periodically check on them if I am not actually out there with them. Even if I on rare occasion forget to put their collars on they have learned the boundary. I honestly don't think they even get close enough to it to even hear the warning anymore. I think Farley went too far twice in the beginning and Chloe only once and were shocked. I have felt it myself and it their setting is similar to a shock I have received having a build-up of static electricity and touching a metal doorknob. It keeps them in even when they are on a full out run chasing a squirrel.

Having said all that I would not rely on an IF if I lived in an area with traffic or alot of walkers. In an area like that I would only use one if I needed reinforcement for a conventional fence.

I also realize that not every dog I ever had will be able to be successfully contained using an IF. Alot depends on the individual dog.

I have an innotek invisible fence that works fine. The only down side is the collar. you can't leave it on for more than 12 hours because it will wear on the dog's neck. the only time my dog has broke through it is when we do not put the collar on him and he is a high energy,high drive dog(australian shepherd). I would not trust it completly like i would a regular electric fence( Sly's went under one that was too short at my uncle's farm. it was for his cows.), but i trust it when i'm there. sly stays in the garage at night and when we're gone. My neighbor got one and after watching the dog get shocked from it, his wife made him take it out because the dog yelped and she couldn't stand to see the dog in pain like that.
My cousin was going to the neighbor's house. he came in and told us Sly was following him. we put his collar on and kept his attention while my cousin snuck over there. Sly took off running to the road. The fence has settings, well if the dog tries to run through or jump through it doesn't matter the setting. it goes straight to high. Let's just say it stopped sly dead in his tracks. I wouldn't use one if i didn't have to but a car was coming at about the same time that sly would have been in the road.
A word of caution. i tried training with a remote shock collar my cousin and her dad trained their lab with. now their dog does fine living in an invisible fence and being trained on a shock collar. with sly it was a different story. He was train that when he is being shocked he is in a place he shouldn't be. He wouldn't move off our front door. I felt so bad. Good thing he was a very forgiving dog.

They are not something I would use. If someone had the time and inclination to really work with the dog, teaching it boundaries, then perhaps it could be a workable solution. For me, I know that no zap would stop my dog if she saw a squirrel, and I'd imagine there are one or two in the boonies. Additionally, they don't keep other people and animals out. IMO, if you are moving in somewhere that you don't want to fence the property in (or can't), fence in an area for your dog and leave the rest alone. I wouldn't leave a dog behind an invisible fence unsupervised.

Lizzie is the same way about pain, and she has a VERY high drive. And if she wanted some thing, NO shock would stop her.

Really!

Plus, on the off chance the dog does get out of the invisible fence, they know better than to get back in. Our neighbor 2 houses up has one, and one night their dog came strolling up to me in our driveway. I knew where he belonged so i took him home, but he wouldn't get himself shocked again to get into the yard.

The other day a stray wandered into their yard when the dog was out. (well, sort of a stray. It was dragging a leash and wandering the neighborhood, i was trying to find out if it had tags, but it wouldn't come near enough)

Baha, I truly wish I could borrow your dog. Every squirrel within a five mile radius of my land comes here for squirrel conventions. They are driving Tosca wild. She has even tried to climb a tree, a time when I did wish I had a camcorder in hand. Moreover, they gather in front of the huge window outside my kitchen, hang off the nearby pine trees and try to give my cats strokes. Let's talk. lol.

strays around here tend to run away. Most have already been shot at and know to run. Strays and wanderers are the usual, but none have been outwardly vicious . there has never been any wild animals come onto our property just cats and mostly hunting dogs that wouldn't so much as bark at you. bully breeds are getting popular because of their backround and looks, but they are not like a lab or coonhound, yet they are treated the same.They're the only ones that are vicios around here because of bad owners and no training. They wander or are dumped off as strays, get into trouble, and farmers shoot them for killing livestock. Given a bad rap as usual.

start trapping 'em. We can set them loose at my grandfather's house. What's the cost for shipping? he feeds The squirrels and birds. He likes to watch them. We named a chipmunk speedy.You should see them! One woodpecker's gut was so big you could not see his little feet. :lol-sign: I'm suprised some have not had a stroke yet.

There is a squirrel around here i call once in a while. He only comes out once in a while. A squirrel around here is rare because of all the stray cats in the woods... and ours.oh and the hawks.

Given your remoteness and size of property, I'd like to suggest something that may work for you.

Take a look at Best Friend Dog Fence. It's essentially deer fencing but may work for your needs. It's a physical barrier so it keeps the dog in and other things out. It's cheap enough to enclose a large area but disappears in the wooded areas so it's not like an obnoxiously obvious chain link fence. It's not meant to be as secure as kennel-grade fencing but it's great if you have dogs who like to run off leash while you do walkies or you are spending time on the porch and keeping an eye on them. It also deters coyotes, foxes, stray dogs, and other canids that may carry parvo.

That it keeps deer off your lawn, and out of your garden is no small added benefit. Our local deer gang, The Whitetails, come by our house every few days and take what they want. You can open the door to shoo them away but they just brazenly stare at you and go back to eating the azaleas all the while dropping ticks on the lawn.

Now you may be able to run electric fencing within the Best Friend Fence (I haven't checked with the manufacturer) and that would definitely deter a whole host of critters without posing a risk to your dog. I've no problem with electric fencing as we have it for the horses and I've zapped myself plenty of times. It's more uncomfortable than painful.

I have seen and heard stories of dogs breaking through the fencing, and not being able to get back in. Some have even been hit by cars because they were confused and ended up wandering.

If you're going to use invisible fencing, at least have a backup plan with it. I have heard of people using it alongside of regular fencing, for dogs who were climbers or chewed through chain link fencing. By itself, I wouldn't use it, personally. Especially with high drive breeds.

As far as pain, I've tested those collars on myself, and they do not hurt like most people say, since most people who say that haven't tested them on their own flesh. It wasn't painful, it was an attention grabber. More of a reminder "hey, you aren't supposed to do this or go here" than anything else.

Good luck with your decision.